Schuster thanks Rangnick for set-piece model: “We used the Austrian corner variant.”

After Philipp Lienhart helped SC Freiburg rediscover some of their set-piece prowess on Saturday afternoon, SCF head-coach Julian Schuster joked that he owed a debt of gratitude to Austrian national team trainer Ralf Rangnick. 

Among the three players who scored a goal in the final ten minutes of the first half in Saturday’s victory over FC Augsburg, Philipp Lienhart’s tally may not have been the most spectacular. It was nevertheless immensely important for both the player and his club. Lienhart’s comeback from major surgery last season now stands complete. Perhaps more importantly, the 28-year-old helped his team improve their woeful record on scoring from set-pieces. 

Lienhart’s 37th minute 2-0 counted as only the second goal the Breisgauer scored off a dead-ball this season. Only bottom dwellers VfL Bochum and St. Pauli (one each) have scored fewer. Interestingly enough, Freiburg’s upcoming league opponents Leipzig actually haven’t done well either, only netting one set-piece-goal. 

As quoted by German journalist Carsten Schröter-Lorenz of Germany’s Kicker Magazine, Freiburg trainer Julian Schuster credited Austrian national team trainer Ralf Rangnick for helping his team out in this regard. Lienhart headed home two goals off corners during the recent international break. Schuster noted that this influenced his preparation.

“Many thanks to team Austria,” Schuster is quoted as saying in an article published by Schröter-Lorenz on Kicker’s website, “We said that we’d be playing the Austrian variant for corners and it worked. One simply has to watch and learn. When experienced colleagues demonstrate something like this, we follow suit.”